2023-10-21 10:32:14
It is a glimmer of hope for the approximately 200 hostages still held in Gaza. On Friday, October 20, in the evening, Hamas released two American women it had kidnapped on October 7 during its deadly attack on Israel.
The two women, a mother and her daughter, were released after mediation by Qatar. Judith and Natalie Raanan were taken care of at the border with Israel by the International Red Cross, while the war between the Jewish state and Hamas, triggered by a bloody attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement, enters this Saturday, October 21 in its third week.
Humanitarian aid begins flowing from Egypt to Gaza
Humanitarian aid trucks began crossing the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian side this Saturday morning, towards the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, according to a security source and an Egyptian Red Crescent official. Egyptian state television showed several trucks passing through the huge gate of the border post, as tons of aid have been piling up for days awaiting passage to the 2.4 million Gazans, for half of the children, without water, electricity or fuel.
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Twenty trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent, which is responsible for delivering aid from various UN agencies, entered the Egyptian terminal, noted an AFP correspondent on site. On the Palestinian terminal side, an AFP journalist saw 36 empty semi-trailers entering the terminal heading towards Egypt, in preparation for loading aid. Four ambulances, two UN vehicles and two Red Cross vehicles were also visible on the Palestinian side.
Gaza: 17 employees of the UN refugee agency killed since the start of the war
At least 17 employees of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, its boss, Philippe, said this Saturday. Lazzarini.
“So far, the deaths in this brutal war of 17 of our colleagues have been confirmed. Unfortunately, the true figure is likely to be higher,” the UNRWA commissioner-general wrote in a statement. Some “were killed at home while sleeping with their families,” the official said.
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“I emphasize that since the outbreak of war on October 7, UNRWA has regularly provided all parties concerned with the geolocation of all its infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. Nevertheless, at least 35 buildings have been affected so far, some by direct strikes”, regrets Philippe Lazzarini.
Israel calls on its citizens to immediately leave Egypt and Jordan
Israel on Saturday called on its citizens in Egypt and Jordan to leave these two countries “as quickly as possible” due to a “worsening of demonstrations against Israel”. A similar level 4 alert – the highest – had already been issued for Turkey, and recommendations were raised to level 3 for Morocco, advising Israelis not to travel there.
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“Due to the continuation of the war, and a significant worsening in recent days of demonstrations against Israel […] and demonstrations of hostility and violence against Israeli and Jewish symbols”, throughout the “Middle East and Arab countries” are not recommended for Israelis, the Israeli National Security Council warned in a statement. Israeli tourists and their Egyptian guide were killed by a police officer in Alexandria on October 8, the day after Hamas attacks on Israel.
Washington welcomes the release of two American hostages from Hamas
The United States on Friday welcomed the release of two American hostages held by Hamas, and called on the Palestinian Islamist group to release the other nationals it is holding. “Our compatriots have experienced a terrible ordeal over the past fourteen days and I am overjoyed that they will soon be reunited with their families,” Joe Biden said in a statement.
He spoke on Friday with the two women, Judith Tai Raanan and Natalie Shoshana Raanan, who were taken hostage on October 7 by Hamas during its bloody assault on Israel. During their conversation, he promised them, according to the White House, “all assistance from the United States government.”
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Joe Biden also thanked Qatar and Israel for their “partnership” in the operation which led to their release. He promised that the United States “would not stop before bringing home” its other nationals still hostages, of which Washington did not give the exact number. These hostages “must be released immediately and unconditionally,” declared the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken during a press conference. “There are another 10 Americans whose fate in this conflict is unknown. We know that some of them are being held by Hamas,” he said.
Hezbollah: messages from France to avoid an escalation
France is sending “very directly” messages of moderation and de-escalation to Lebanese Hezbollah in order to dissuade it from entering the conflict between Israel and Palestinian Hamas, Emmanuel Macron declared this Friday to a few journalists
“We sent messages very directly to Hezbollah through our ambassador and our services. We also passed them to the Lebanese authorities,” he said. “There was rocket fire but there was no escalation today in the matter. But we remain very cautious. We send these messages of moderation daily,” he added.
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Supported by Iran, Hezbollah has a very significant military strike force. According to the Israeli army, exchanges of fire increased on Friday in the border area between Israel and Lebanon, which has been under very high tension since October 7. And the evacuation of the town of Kyriat Shmona was announced.
“There is a situation of tension which is extremely worrying in any case and poses a great risk to the entire region. We are warning everyone, we are doing everything to avoid escalation but the security situation remains by definition unstable because it is at a very high level of tension and pressure,” said Emmanuel Macron.
Gaza hospital: “Nothing allows” to designate “an Israeli strike”, according to French military intelligence
“Nothing allows us to say” that it was “an Israeli strike” which fell on the Gaza hospital on Tuesday, a tragedy for which Israel and Hamas still blame each other, the Intelligence Directorate said on Friday. French military (DRM).
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“The nature of the explosion and the exchanges with other intelligence partners lead me to (affirm) that there is nothing to say that it was an Israeli strike. The most likely hypothesis is a rocket Palestinian bomb which exploded with a charge of around 5 kilos,” a DRM official told journalists. The DRM decided to make its analyzes public at the request of the French presidency for the sake of transparency, he argued.
Based on its understanding of the explosion site, the DRM identified a hole, not a crater, approximately one meter by 75 cm, and 30 to 40 cm deep. “It takes about five kilos of explosives to produce this effect, certainly less than 10 kilos,” he insisted. The hypothesis of an Israeli bomb or missile is not possible according to him, because the minimum load of this type of weapon is much higher. A machine of this kind would have formed a much larger crater, added this official. On the other hand, he estimates that a charge of 5 kilos is consistent for rockets acquired or manufactured by the Palestinians. An opinion shared by American intelligence.
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